2016-17 Beginners Week 22

Well done on running 70 minutes on Thursday!  You may not believe us, but the hardest part is behind us.  Once someone can run an hour, bumping up a session 10 minutes each week is not a significant jump in terms of fitness/cardio requirement.  The hard part is learning how to run and building a base.  It’s tough to move from walking/jogging intervals to non-stop running.  We’ve done that hard work and are more than ready to start extending our mileage.

A few notes about training over the coming weeks:

  • It’s very important to get in the the long runs each week, even if they are not on Thursday with the rest of the group
  • It’s important to not steadily increase your time every week – it is best to lengthen your session for 3-4 weeks then drop back for one week to allow your body to recover/rest.  We will rest the week of ASL’s February break and again the second week of March.
  • Please continue to email/talk to each other when you have scheduling conflicts – it’s a great way to get those longer runs in if you can’t make a Thursday

We heard from several of you that the Thursday run felt much easier than the Tuesday run because of the pace.  If you are feeling like you’re going too fast on Tuesday, please please slow down a bit.  Often, if you say that you want to slow a bit, there will be someone around you who is thinking the same thing and would love to slow down as well.  We don’t want anyone to be injured or be too exhausted to be ready to run longer on Thursday.  If you’re feeling like you want to push the pace for the run on Tuesday, though, that is also fine.  Just listen to your body.  I know you all want to try to stay together but it’s not always possible, and you are all close enough in pace that even if you are separated, you’ll get back to Starbucks within a few minutes of each other.

Here is a reminder of our runs until the race.  It sounds like everyone can do Wednesday 1 March for Canary Wharf so please mark your calendars for that.

Week 22 – 26 Jan – 80 min = Brompton Cemetery/Whole Foods Kensington
Week 23 – 2 Feb – 90 min = Sloane Sq/Green Park
Week 24 – 9 Feb – 100 min = Big Ben and back
Week 25 – February break – 60 min run
Week 26 – 23 Feb – 110 min = Wembley
Week 27 – 1 Mar – 120 min = Canary Wharf [NOTE – WEDNESDAY]
Week 28 – 9 Mar – 90 min = TBD
Week 29 – 16 Mar – 130 min = Kew Gardens
Week 30 – 23 Mar – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park
RACE DAY!

I appreciate that the lengths of upcoming runs could seem daunting, but I promise that you can do it. When we started running together, our longest jogging interval was one minute. You are now doing 60-70 times that rather comfortably.  The coaches are here for you. Let us if know if you’re having trouble. Each of our coaches have a lot of running experience and they truly understand the psychology of the half-marathon distance. At this point in our training, our hardest work is convincing ourselves that we can run 13.1 miles. It’s a mind game and the mind is a powerful thing! Try to start playing the tape over in your head that says “I can do this”. When doubts creep in, turn off that negative feed.  We do believe you can do this.  We are down to our core group now and we believe in each and every one of you. The next few weeks should be a lot of fun!  Seriously!

Route this week
This week we are running an interesting route through the Brompton Cemetery to finish at Whole Foods in Kensington. We’ll head down to Hyde Park in the normal fashion via Lisson Grove/Seymour. As we near Wellington Arch, we’ll veer to the right (or west) staying along the inside edge of the park. exiting at the gate we normally use at William Street [next to the French Embassy].  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road.  Veer left on Fulham Road and continue to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the Cemetery.  Run through the Cemetery then exit and turn right onto Old Brompton Road, then turn left onto Earls Court Road. Cross Cromwell Road, then turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street.  Whole Foods will be to your right. Whole Foods is a great place to finish. There is plenty of room for everyone to sit together for coffee after the run (if you have time). To get back to SJW, some people may decide to share cabs or you can tube home from Kensington High Street station (Circle Line).